The Surprising Ingredient Chef Akwasi Brenya-Mensa Adds To Scrambled Eggs

When it comes to common kitchen ingredients, there are some that are more versatile than others. Take bread, for example, which can be made into French toast, croutons, breadcrumbs, and many other staples. As another example, tomatoes can be turned into marinara, as well as a sauce for Indian butter chicken, gazpacho, pico de gallo, and so much more. And then there are eggs, which not only provide structure in many sweet and savory baking recipes, but can also be served in a seemingly endless parade of meals, from eggs Benedict and shakshuka to egg salad and about a million more dishes.

For many of us, scrambled eggs are a breakfast and brunch mainstay — and even within this narrowed-down category, there are so many ways to make a basic scramble. Some people add milk or cream to their mix; some add water. Others whisk salt into the eggs and let the mixture sit for 15 minutes, supposedly resulting in a more tender scramble (via Bon Appétit). And then there's chef Akwasi Brenya-Mensa, who takes a trip into sweet territory with a surprising scrambled egg add-on that has our taste buds intrigued.

We all know that sweet and savory is a classic combination — think peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, maple-glazed bacon, or fruit and cheese platters. Some people have been known to douse their morning scrambled eggs with ketchup, which is pretty loaded with sugar, but Akwasi Brenya-Mensa adds an extra-sweet note to his scrambled eggs with the unexpected addition of strawberry jam. "Strawberry jam was my sandwich of choice as a kid and, similar to the way bacon and maple syrup works on pancakes, one of my favorite weekend breakfasts is scrambled eggs on strawberry jam toast," the chef, whose restaurant Tatale is set to open in London this fall, told The Guardian. 

In order to keep the dish from getting too sweet, Brenya-Mensa also adds a sprinkle of yaji, a West African spice mix typically used to marinate beef kebabs, to his unusual breakfast creation. "For me, yaji spice is such a simple way to add warmth and flavor to dishes," he added in The Guardian article. "In this meal, it nicely balances out the sweetness of the strawberries." Curious? Yaji, also known as suya, can be mixed up at home using a combination of cayenne, ground peanuts, paprika, ginger, and other common spices (via Epicurious). So the next time you're craving an intriguing breakfast, bust out the eggs, toast, and some strawberry jam.